Coroner invites Duggan family to 'help change tactics'

The coroner in the Mark Duggan inquest will take the "unique" move of inviting the family to help shape police firearms procedure. Family and friends took part in a vigil yesterday outside Tottenham police station to protest the lawful verdict.

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The coroner in the controversial Mark Duggan inquest has said he will ask the Duggan family to help shape recommendations on police firearms procedure, the Mail on Sunday has reported.

Senior circuit judge Keith Cutler told the newspaper he will take "the unusual, perhaps unique step" of inviting submissions from the Duggan family.

The jury, accompanied by Judge Keith Cutler, in the inquest into the death of Mark Duggan. Credit: PA

Judge Cutler said: "Whatever you think of him as an individual, Mark Duggan was somebody’s son. No one wanted him to die.

"Normally I would hide away and come to my own conclusions about these recommendations but this has been a highly charged and high- profile case. I have wanted to have transparency for all the parties and the public.

"The obvious one, that officers wear head cameras on these types of operations, has already been put forward. But there will be other issues including the training of officers and preparation for operations".

Mark Duggan's aunt Carole has condemned a media "campaign" that she said had portrayed him as a "gangster" at today's vigil for the 29-year-old outside a police station in Tottenham.

"What we have got to remember - Mark isn't here and we are doing this for his children," she told protesters, who held placards calling for "justice" after an inquest ruled Mr Duggan had been lawfully killed by a police marksman in 2011.

Mrs Duggan called for a new Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation (IPCC) into her nephew's death, which was followed by rioting across the country.

Mark Duggan's aunt, Carole, said "we have no alternative but to go back to basics, start at the beginning" with a new inquest. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

"Let's show the country that we are not this gangster family that the media has been systematically portraying us as," Carole Duggan told the crowd.

"Mark was not a gangster, the media sustained a campaign against him. We're just an ordinary family."

Mark Duggan's mother, Pamela, joined other protesters in releasing 20 white doves as a symbol of peace as the demonstration came to an end. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

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A police statement warning those who would provoke trouble at a vigil being held by Mark Duggan's family follows concerns that the crowds would clash with football fans going to see Tottenham Hotspur play Crystal Palace, but the match is set to go ahead at 3pm.

Carole Duggan speaks to the media following the conclusion to the inquest. Credit: PA

On Thursday Britain's most senior police officer and Prime Minister David Cameron both urged supporters to remain calm at the vigil.

The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, thanked the Duggan family for their public calls for peace.

He said: "A vigil is to commemorate Mark Duggan's death, that's what the vigil is about."It's a terrible tragedy that someone's lost a life in this case, and clearly the family want to register, I believe, their protest about the outcome of the inquest."

Police station shutters came down with a message on the front saying that the Tottenham Police station was closed.The first two to arrive for the vigil, were Islington pensioner Anne Johnson, 80, a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and 73-year-old Martha Osamor.

Mark Duggan's mother, Pam Duggan (right) and her son Marlon Duggan (left) outside the Royal Courts of Justice. Credit: PA

Ms Johnson said: "I feel so sorry for the Duggan family. This is yet another death involving the police and a black person.

"People are not getting justice. The police should not be killing people."

Ms Osamor, who works at Haringey Law Centre, in Tottenham, said: "I knew Mark Duggan when he was a little boy. So little has changed over the years.

As fans heading for the Spurs-Crystal Palace match walked past Tottenham Police station, they were aware of a strong police presence long before the 2pm start of the vigil.

Police vans were parked outside the imposing three-storey station from which a Union flag fluttered.

A jury found that Mark Duggan was lawfully killed when he was shot dead by a police marksman in 2011 Credit: ITV News

In side roads off the Tottenham High Road more police waited in police vans.One man arrived to stick three posters on a notice board opposite the police station. Two were in the name of Socialist Worker and carried the headline: No Justice No Peace.

The third poster advertised a Socialist Workers Party meeting in Tottenham on Wednesday evening under the heading The police, racism and state violence.A black woman stopped by, kissed one of the notices and said: "I'll always love you, Mark. "